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Group urges review of new U.S. statin drug
advice
23 Sep 2004 22:12:05
GMT
Source: Reuters
| By
Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Consumer advocates backed by
some prominent doctors and researchers on Thursday questioned a new
U.S. policy recommending wider use of statin drugs to lower
cholesterol.
The new guidelines, published in July, suggest that people
who once thought their cholesterol levels were fine should take
statin drugs to get them even lower.
The National Institutes of Health and the National
Cholesterol Education Program panel that issued the guidelines cited
several studies showing that people who used statins greatly lowered
their risk of heart disease.
But the Center for Science in the Public Interest disputed
the interpretation of the studies and accused the panel members of
having been influenced by their connections to drug companies.
"There is strong evidence to suggest that an objective,
independent reevaluation of the scientific evidence from the five
new studies of statin therapy would lead to different conclusions
than those presented by the current NCEP," reads the CSPI letter,
signed by 35 cardiologists, nutritionists and other health
professionals.
"The studies cited do not demonstrate that statins benefit
women of any age or men over 70 who do not already have heart
disease," said John Abramson, a clinical instructor in primary care
at Harvard Medical School, who signed the letter.
"Furthermore, we are concerned about the findings from one of
the five cited studies showing that statin therapy significantly
increases the risk of cancer in the elderly."
The new guidelines say that high-risk people -- who have had
a heart attack, diabetes, chest pain, or surgery to clear blocked
blood vessels -- should aim for a low-density lipoprotein or "bad"
cholesterol level of 70 instead of the usual 100.
Those considered at moderate risk are now told to take drugs
if their LDL is 130 or above.
The guidelines do mention that lifestyle changes can lower
cholesterol too, and say that drugs should not be prescribed without
advice to exercise and eat more fruits, vegetables and fiber and
less fat.
But the CSPI letter says the guidelines give this advice only
a cursory mention.
"Eight of the nine authors of the July recommendations have
financial ties to statin manufacturers, including Pfizer (Inc.
<PFE.N>), Merck (and Co. Inc. <MRK.N>), Bristol-Myers
Squibb <BMY.N>, and AstraZeneca <AZN.L> -- a fact that
was not disclosed when the recommendations were first published in
the journal Circulation," the letter reads.
Many researchers have financial ties to drug companies but
the issue has received more prominence in recent years as groups
such as the CSPI question whether such relationships may influence
medical research.
"We have abundant, strong evidence to support the ...
guidelines and we are in the process of formulating a response to
the CSPI," said Susan Sagusti, a spokeswoman for the NIH's National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
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